Use event surveys to plan and host better events

How to effectively use event surveys

Make your next event successful start to finish. Here are some tips and online event survey examples to help you collect feedback and draw meaningful conclusions from the data. Whether you’re planning an event, responding to feedback in real time, or hoping to improve based on post-event feedback, follow these guidelines for an easy way to make surveying an integral part of your success.

Take the stress out of event planning

Send a survey to invitees to get an accurate headcount and tailor your event according to their preferences. With SurveyMonkey, you can even accept payments in your surveys.

Do you plan fundraisers, conferences, parties, or weddings? Whether casual or fancy, business or personal, you know it takes a lot of work. There’s the venue to book, speakers or entertainment to coordinate, and RSVPs to gather. Surveys make it easy to get the information you need—before and after your event—to be sure everyone has a great time, and to make each event you plan is better than the last. You’ll need an accurate headcount to make sure you have enough food to go around. Send out a simple RSVP questionnaire to get the names, addresses, the number of people, and any other information you need to accurately plan your event. You can also use surveys to ask about people’s availability if you need help setting a date. Preview template

Professional events and conferences

Before you decide on that team building exercise, offsite, or holiday party, send out a corporate event questionnaire to gather all of the data you need to make an informed decision. Poll attendees about things like dietary restrictions and what they hope to get out of the event. Use our expert-certified templates, or customize questions to be as specific as you like. Preview template

Fundraisers and non-profits

Use surveys to understand everyone’s availability, coordinate volunteers, or collect donations. To make sure your donors have a great experience, take a little time to understand what makes them tick. Did the event do enough to discuss the cause? Or was it fun enough? Are they more or less likely to donate? Asking these questions can help things run smoothly so you can meet your fundraising goals. Preview template

Event survey examples and templates

Ask attendees to give live feedback during an event to make adjustments in real time, ensuring their satisfaction.

Our event survey templates are written by experts to save you time and get you reliable, actionable data. Check out some of our online event survey templates below, or look at our full list of available free survey templates.

General event feedback survey template

Measure attendee satisfaction with this post-event feedback survey, designed in partnership with experts at Eventbrite. Preview template

Professional event feedback survey template

Ask attendees if sessions were informative, how you could improve your event, and if they’re likely to attend again. Preview template

5 tips for successful event surveys

As time goes by, the details of an event you held may get a little fuzzy. You’ll want to know exactly what your guests liked, what they didn’t like, and what they’d like to see next time, so get their responses while the event is still fresh in their memory.

2. Be specific

If you had several entertainment acts throughout your event, a question like, “Did you like the entertainment?” may be difficult to answer. Your attendees may have loved one act but loathed another. Ask about specific entertainers (or food dishes or presenters) and you’ll have a better idea what to do for your next event.

3. Make it anonymous

Unless you’re asking for contact information, be sure to let your guests know their event survey answers are 100% anonymous. In order to gain the most insight, you want to be sure that they feel comfortable complimenting (and criticizing) the event.

4. Choose your incentives wisely

Incentivizing your respondents to give feedback can be a good idea, but keep this in mind: If you offer everybody survey rewards, attendees may rush through your survey without giving much thought to responses. A good way to get quality answers is to offer your attendees a way to enter a raffle for a prize or generic gift card that would appeal to most of them. Don’t forget to ask for their contact information to follow up if they’ve won.

5. Consider your data in context

Comparing your event feedback survey data with event data from others is a great way to understand your performance. For example, if 67% of your attendees say they’d recommend your event to others, how do you know whether that’s good or bad? When you use our General Event Feedback Survey Template as is, you can see your data in context by comparing your survey results against our industry benchmarks for attendee satisfaction.